Day One Leader
South Hill, Va.-September 21, 2011 The lake is low and the clear bite is tough on day one of the 2011 Mid-Atlantic Division Championship on Kerr Lake in South Hill, Va. TBF anglers representing seven states face off this week to crown this year’s division champions in the individual and state team standings. Anglers hoped the hurricane that swept through a couple weeks ago would fill the lake, but it didn’t, which has made anglers fight for the bite. “The fish are there; the guys can see them,” TBF President and weighmaster, Robert Cartlidge, said. “They’re just having trouble landing the bite.” Tough water or not, nearly 415lbs of fish were caught today on Kerr Lake, and Virginia State Team brought in a whopping 88lb 4oounces of it to take the lead after day one of the 2011 Mid-Atlantic Division Championship.
In the individual standings, Ronald (Jackie) Dye from Abingdon, Va. came out on top today with a five fish limit of bass weighing 13lb 12ounces. “The water level right now is actually my preferred water level,” Dye said. “I’m on good fish and they have just been biting well for me the couple days.” Dye is a non-boater, and he left lots of praise for his partner today, Aaron Kassab, from Pine Grove, Penn. “I was left to the whims of my boater, and I got a very good partner; he took care of me well, we caught the fish really fast, really early this morning.” Tomorrow, Dye drew a partner from Maryland and hope “luck” will continue to follow. “Everything just went well, it seemed like luck was just with me and luck has more to do with fishing than skill. Tomorrow, we’re just going to go out there and hope for the best; do our very best.”
Trailing Dye by less than a pound is fellow state team member, Tom Haynes from Chesterfield, Va. Haynes caught a limit of bass today weighing 12lb 10ounces. Currently, in third is Jim Short from Ocean Pines, Md., with five fish weighing 11lb 10ounces. Just two ounces behind Short in fourth is Dave Frost from North Haledon, N.J. The individual standings are tight, with just under 14lbs leading it’s any ones title up for grabs. Tomorrow, 84 TBF anglers from seven states will look to stake their slots high on day two of competition as the 2011 Mid-Atlantic Championship is underway on Kerr Lake in South Hill, Va.
STANDINGS
